Friday, September 05, 2014

Does God Change?

It is a vexing question over the ages. Does God change with time or is God eternally immutable?

For some people the idea that God might change weakens God. For some it raises questions about how we know what truth is, if the basis of truth can change. For others it is not a big issue at all. I count myself in camp #3.

This week I have been working with the story of Noah. And this is one of the stories where God appears to change. Or at least that has been a line of discussion in a FB group this week.

SO does God change? Not just in the Noah story but in the scope of Scripture as a whole. Taken from a literary-criticism approach God as a character in the story certainly changes. Or at least wears a variety of masks. God is Creator but also Destroyer. God is Advocate and Judge. God is a Tribal God, fighting on behalf of God's People or God is the One God, Universal. God the character is different, plays different roles, has different priorities in different parts of the story.

But is that change? Is that change to the essence or change in view? Is it God changing or the developing understanding people have of God?

Then there are times God changes God's mind. The Noah story would seem to fit in here. In fact God seems to change God's mind twice in that story--first God regrets creating humanity then God regrets the flood. Other examples would be God and Abraham bargaining over the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah or Moses convincing God not to destroy the people of Israel in the desert.

Are these just changes of mind or are they deeper changes of self-understanding? I would argue that especially the Moses instance is a change of self-understanding, particularly since that is pretty much the line Moses uses to convince God.

And certainly we see change in Jesus. Most notably when he is challenged by the Samaritan woman about the children's food going to the dogs. And if in Jesus we see God most clearly and Jesus changes/grows in understanding what does that say about God?

But in the end, for me, God has to change. Scripture is clear that God is God in relationship with Creation. Real relationship means growth and challenge and change. Certainly the Scripture witness is clear that most of the change and growth happens on the Creat-ed side rather than on the Creat-or side. And it will always be impossible to know how much of the change we see in God is in fact God changing or the result of a new understanding of God growing in the witnesses and storytellers. But if God is truly in relationship with us, if that relationship is actually based in mutuality, then yes God is changed by the relationship.

And that need not be a bad or a scary thing. It will however be difficult to sort out at times...